Battery Metals - Copperbelt Katanga Mining

Saudi Arabia’s PIF Leads Bidding for $2.5 Billion Vale Base Metals Stake

June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 Constance

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is emerging as the leading bidder to acquire a stake in Vale SA’s multibillion-dollar nickel and copper operations, people with knowledge of the matter said. PIF is in advanced discussions with the Brazilian miner about a deal for a roughly 10% holding in its base metals unit, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The stake could be valued at around $2.5 billion, they said. The wealth fund is poised to beat out rival bidders including Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. and the Qatar… Read More Here

International Battery Metals

Critical Materials Price Index Reaches 12-Month Low

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 Constance

The critical materials price index, monitored by Project Blue, reached its lowest point in the past year in May. However, the energy transition market intelligence firm now suggests that this decline marked the low point in the cycle for the basket of 30 metals and minerals. The index had reached its peak in March of the previous year, benefitting from a post-COVID economic recovery. However, it experienced a swift decline due to a weakening global macroeconomic situation, surging energy costs, and a less-than-inspiring recovery in China, which accounts for the… Read More Here

Mining in Zambia Battery Metals Copper

Is Zambia really unattractive to mining investors?

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 Constance

Zambia was once again among the world’s five least attractive jurisdictions for mining investment – that is, according to the Fraser Institute’s latest Annual Survey of Mining Companies. For members of Zambia’s Government, mining industry insiders, finance professionals – and anyone who follows the Canada-based think-tank’s annual report and saw our 2022 score – a return to the bottom five in this internationally-recognized report might seem like a bad joke. The report is widely considered a global benchmark for investors’ perceptions and, for years, Mining For Zambia highlighted its findings with you, our readers.… Read More Here

Battery Metals Copper International Nickel

Bill Gates-backed KoBold Metals is the Silicon Valley’s newest unicorn

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 Constance

Berkeley-based mining company KoBold Metals has hit the $1 billion unicorn valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Its most recent $200 million round included money from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a Bill Gates-backed venture capital firm that invests in clean energy companies on behalf of people including Jeff Bezos and Jack Ma. Founded in 2018, KoBold uses machine learning to look for deposits of critical minerals like copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt. “Our proprietary A.I. tools build on a concept we call efficacy of information (EOI), enabl KoBold to determine which data to… Read More Here

Battery Metals International

Chinese unicorn startup develops all-weather EV Battery

June 11, 2023June 11, 2023 Constance

A young battery startup in China claims its latest cell technology is able to alleviate a major issue for EV owners today – the loss of charging performance and range in inclement weather, especially cold climates during winter. By utilizing superconducting materials, Greater Bay Technology says its new cells can charge and function as normal within six minutes, no matter the temperature outside. Guangzhou Juwan Technology Research Co., Ltd. – better known as Greater Bay Technology is a battery startup spun out of GAC Motor as recently as 2020. In that short time,… Read More Here

Battery Metals International Technology & Innovation

Breakthrough in Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Could Revolutionize Power Grid

April 30, 2023April 30, 2023 Constance

Despite recent technological breakthroughs, lithium-ion battery recycling continues to vex scientists in several ways. Battery recycling remains an expensive process that often requires melting down entire batteries in order to recycle small amounts of precious metals. However, great minds are increasingly finding ways to repurpose and recycle batteries that are past their prime, as scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently did when they discovered that batteries of differing ages, sizes, and origins could be combined to form a unique kind of energy storage system. In a paper written for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Electrical Energy Storage… Read More Here

Mining in DRC Battery Metals Copper

CMOC Resolves Mining Royalties Dispute in DRC

April 19, 2023April 19, 2023 Constance

China’s CMOC Group Ltd. has made a breakthrough in its long-running dispute with state-owned partner Gécamines over mining royalties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This development could enable CMOC to begin exporting its stockpile of battery metals to global markets. According to a filing made by CMOC on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday 19th April, both companies have reached a “consensus on the royalties issue” at the Tenke Fungurume operation. The exports from Tenke, a major source of copper and one of the world’s largest cobalt… Read More Here

Battery Metals Corporate News Mining in DRC Mining in Zambia

DRC-Zambia-USA tripartite evaluates the Agreement on the Battery industry

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 Constance

After the INDABA Mining Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, the agreement on the battery industry was once again at the heart of discussions within the DRC-Zambia-USA tripartite, on Saturday April 15, 2023, in Washington, DC, United States. Signed in December 2022, the memorandum of understanding is in line with the objective of the DRC and Zambia to set up a productive supply chain, from the mine to the assembly line, while committing to international standards to prevent, detect, and prosecute corruption throughout this process. “We have been invited by… Read More Here

Battery Metals International

Tanzania signs $667 million deals for rare earth and Graphite projects

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 Constance

Tanzania on Monday 17th April signed agreements worth $667 million with three Australian companies to mine rare earth minerals and graphite, part of the president’s drive to fast-track negotiations on long-pending mining and energy projects. Under the deals with Evolution Energy Minerals, Ecograf Ltd and Peak Rare Earths, Tanzania will have a 16% stake each in jointly established companies to operate the projects, said Palamagamba Kabudi, the chairman of the government’s negotiating team. The US government and allies including Australia, which has some of the world’s largest rare earths producers… Read More Here

Mining in DRC Battery Metals

US International Development Finance Agency intends to boost the electric battery factory project in the DRC

April 17, 2023April 17, 2023 arnbethnic

After being received at the US State Department, the Congolese Minister of Industry, Julien Paluku Kahongya, and his colleague from Finance, Nicolas Kazadi, met with the team from the American Agency for International Development Finance (DFC) led by its Executive Director, Scott Nathan. During this strategic meeting, the American financial agency announced that it will support the acceleration of the realization of the pan-African project to establish the first factory for the production of electric battery precursors in the province of Haut-Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). For… Read More Here